Rapid Commercialization using an Integrated Approach to Bioprocess Development

Genomatica has developed a complete, commercial-scale bioprocess for production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) directly from carbohydrates, producing thousands of tons of commercial-grade material since 2012. This presentation will discuss the integrated approach inherent to Genomatica’s biotechnology platform that made this faster and less expensive than traditional bioprocess development and scale up. A key differentiator of this platform includes an emphasis on modeling and techno-economic analysis from the very start. The information gained from this analysis is used to guide decisions on organism, fermentation, and downstream process design. Combining this integrated approach with real-world commercial expertise enabled highly-reliable and predictable scale-up and scale-down results across multiple orders of magnitude.

This presentation will focus on elements of our technology platform associated with strain evaluation and process development at multiple scales: microtiter plate culturing, lab-scale fermentation, demonstration plant, and commercialization. We will highlight a small scale protocol that can be used to obtain relevant metrics of candidate strains that are predictive of fermentation performance, thereby allowing reliable strain screening prior to fermentation. Other aspects of Genomatica’s technology platform, including systems biology and advanced molecular techniques, will be covered in a different session at the meeting.